diff --git a/rpmio/rpmio.c b/rpmio/rpmio.c
index 60c2c5c7d..7675d2378 100644
--- a/rpmio/rpmio.c
+++ b/rpmio/rpmio.c
@@ -21,11 +21,9 @@ extern int h_errno;
 #define	IPPORT_HTTP	80
 #endif
 
-#include <rpm/argv.h>
 #include <rpm/rpmlog.h>
 #include <rpm/rpmmacro.h>
 #include <rpm/rpmfileutil.h>
-#include <rpm/rpmstring.h>
 
 #include "rpmio/rpmio_internal.h"
 #include "rpmio/ugid.h"
@@ -771,44 +769,31 @@ int ufdClose( void * cookie)
  * - better error checking + reporting
  * - curl & friends don't know about hkp://, transform to http?
  */
+
 static FD_t urlOpen(const char * url, int flags, mode_t mode)
 {
-    FD_t fd = NULL;
-    char *cmd = NULL;
+    FD_t fd;
     char *dest = NULL;
-    char *urlhelper = NULL;
-    int rc;
-    pid_t pid, wait;
+    int rc = 1; /* assume failure */
 
-    urlhelper = rpmExpand("%{?_urlhelper}", NULL);
-
-    dest = rpmGenPath(NULL, "%{_tmppath}/", "rpm-transfer.XXXXXX");
-    close(mkstemp(dest));
-    rasprintf(&cmd, "%s %s %s\n", urlhelper, dest, url);
-    urlhelper = _free(urlhelper);
-
-    if ((pid = fork()) == 0) {
-        ARGV_t argv = NULL;
-        argvSplit(&argv, cmd, " ");
-        execvp(argv[0], (char *const *)argv);
-        exit(-1); /* error out if exec fails */
+    fd = rpmMkTemp(NULL, &dest);
+    if (fd == NULL) {
+	return NULL;
     }
-    wait = waitpid(pid, &rc, 0);
+    Fclose(fd);
 
-    if (!WIFEXITED(rc) || WEXITSTATUS(rc)) {
-        rpmlog(RPMLOG_ERR, _("URL helper failed: %s (%d)\n"),
-                 cmd, WEXITSTATUS(rc));
-    } else {
+    rc = urlGetFile(url, dest);
+    if (rc == 0) {
 	fd = fdOpen(dest, flags, mode);
 	unlink(dest);
+    } else {
+	fd = NULL;
     }
     dest = _free(dest);
-    cmd = _free(cmd);
 
     return fd;
 
 }
-
 static FD_t ufdOpen(const char * url, int flags, mode_t mode)
 {
     FD_t fd = NULL;
diff --git a/rpmio/url.c b/rpmio/url.c
index 2c90a6fb2..6fa2d1d6e 100644
--- a/rpmio/url.c
+++ b/rpmio/url.c
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #include <rpm/rpmlog.h>
 #include <rpm/rpmurl.h>
 #include <rpm/rpmio.h>
+#include <rpm/argv.h>
+#include <rpm/rpmstring.h>
 
 #include "debug.h"
 
@@ -244,69 +246,37 @@ int urlSplit(const char * url, urlinfo *uret)
     return 0;
 }
 
+
 int urlGetFile(const char * url, const char * dest)
 {
+    char *cmd = NULL;
+    const char *target = NULL;
+    char *urlhelper = NULL;
     int rc;
-    FD_t sfd = NULL;
-    FD_t tfd = NULL;
-    const char * sfuPath = NULL;
-    int urlType = urlPath(url, &sfuPath);
+    pid_t pid, wait;
 
-    if (*sfuPath == '\0')
-	return FTPERR_UNKNOWN;
-	
-    sfd = Fopen(url, "r.ufdio");
-    if (sfd == NULL || Ferror(sfd)) {
-	rpmlog(RPMLOG_ERR, _("failed to open %s: %s\n"), url, Fstrerror(sfd));
-	rc = FTPERR_UNKNOWN;
-	goto exit;
-    }
+    urlhelper = rpmExpand("%{?_urlhelper}", NULL);
 
     if (dest == NULL) {
-	if ((dest = strrchr(sfuPath, '/')) != NULL)
-	    dest++;
-	else
-	    dest = sfuPath;
+	urlPath(url, &target);
+    } else {
+	target = dest;
     }
 
-    if (dest == NULL)
-	return FTPERR_UNKNOWN;
+    /* XXX TODO: sanity checks like target == dest... */
 
-    tfd = Fopen(dest, "w.ufdio");
-if (_url_debug)
-fprintf(stderr, "*** urlGetFile sfd %p %s tfd %p %s\n", sfd, url, (tfd ? tfd : NULL), dest);
-    if (tfd == NULL || Ferror(tfd)) {
-	/* XXX Fstrerror */
-	rpmlog(RPMLOG_ERR, _("failed to create %s: %s\n"), dest, Fstrerror(tfd));
-	rc = FTPERR_UNKNOWN;
-	goto exit;
+    rasprintf(&cmd, "%s %s %s\n", urlhelper, target, url);
+    urlhelper = _free(urlhelper);
+
+    if ((pid = fork()) == 0) {
+        ARGV_t argv = NULL;
+        argvSplit(&argv, cmd, " ");
+        execvp(argv[0], argv);
+        exit(-1); /* error out if exec fails */
     }
-
-    switch (urlType) {
-    case URL_IS_HTTPS:
-    case URL_IS_HTTP:
-    case URL_IS_HKP:
-    case URL_IS_FTP:
-    case URL_IS_PATH:
-    case URL_IS_DASH:
-    case URL_IS_UNKNOWN:
-	if ((rc = ufdGetFile(sfd, tfd))) {
-	    (void) unlink(dest);
-	    /* XXX FIXME: sfd possibly closed by copyData */
-	    (void) Fclose(sfd) ;
-	}
-	sfd = NULL;	/* XXX Fclose(sfd) done by ufdGetFile */
-	break;
-    default:
-	rc = FTPERR_UNKNOWN;
-	break;
-    }
-
-exit:
-    if (tfd)
-	(void) Fclose(tfd);
-    if (sfd)
-	(void) Fclose(sfd);
+    wait = waitpid(pid, &rc, 0);
+    cmd = _free(cmd);
 
     return rc;
+
 }